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1/2 Penny Warwickshire - Shakespeare
| Issuer | United Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 1792 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 11 g |
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| Reverse description | A seated male figure, representing a craftsman or smith, is depicted in left profile, raising a hammer above an anvil or worktable in a posture of active labour. To the right of the central figure, a pair of mine headframes or industrial pit-head structures are visible in the middle ground, alluding to the industrial character of Warwickshire. The legend HALFPENNY arcs around the upper periphery, and the date 1792 appears in the exergue along the lower rim. The toothed border frames the composition throughout. |
| Reverse script | Latin |
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| Additional information |
This is one of the Conder tokens, the vast wave of privately issued copper struck across Britain from the late 1780s onward to fill a void left by the Royal Mint's near-total failure to produce regal copper coinage for decades. Warwickshire merchants and tradesmen commissioned their own pieces rather than wait for a government that showed no urgency. The Shakespeare connection is straightforwardly commercial — Stratford-upon-Avon's tourism trade was already well established by 1792, the Garrick Jubilee of 1769 having turbocharged the bard's cult status.
DH#49 per Dalton & Hamer's reference catalogue, the standard authority on the series.